Have 2 juvenile water skinks in residence inside the house.
One has taken up residence in the bathroom , hides under front of the big fibreglass Marbletrend onepiece
bath-shower ensemble .
Yep it's a tiny bathroom , this was part of my big 1994 renovation = remodeling the original 1950s bathroom - was so big we had to remove the exterior wall of the bathroom to get the new one piece ( very large and awkward to move ensemble into as the hallway was too narrow to get it into bathroom through the door - I didn't want to remove the closet & bathroom door frame & door jamb get it into the bathroom , nor was this practical as the builder still had to work in the bathroom to assemble to ensemble's hidden support frame , so only practical approach was to remove the exterior wall and lift the new
bath 7ft from the ground to level of bathroom floor to place on a bed of wet cement ), there's a gap under the front lip of the
bath that is a perfect hiding place for little geckos and skinks , can't get unto the cavity inside as I made sure to fill that with high R rated left over roof insulation after the timber structure frame was installed.
I also replaced the bathroom widow old timber window replaced with aluminium dble sash , and the vanity unit and toilet ensamble , I redid all the bathroom plumbing while the exterior wall cavity was exposed & my own floor and wall tiling to finish off.
This little skink is about 12 months old and very shy , scurries back to bathroom if it hears something unexpected or one of us moves unexpectedly..
Comes out and patrols the hall and bedrooms and study when the house is quiet.
No privacy when we need to use the loo , the little skink pokes it's head out and studies us while we're sitting . Will take a mealworm if we deposit it close to it's "spot" .
The other house skink is also about 12 months old , but is much friendlier and outgoing and pretty assertive , and has taken up residence in the lounge-room + dining and kitchen areas , and is more like a pet, is quite comfortable being near us and knows how to ask / beg for live food treats.
Likes to hang out in the lounge ( I could pat it if I thought it would let me - not quite that tame / trusting yet , but getting there ).
Yes they are two different skinks - as I've seen both at the same time.
No they don't seem to be interested in predating on the little wild hatchling G.Dudia (house geckos) who are showing up in the kitchen lately, I'm guessing too well fed on the rogue crickets ( I often have escaped crickets that just vanish never to be seen or heard again - the geckos and skinks in residence are making quick work of them , and controlling the spiders and roach's and mice ( there's mouse plague in our suburb I'm told as all the neighbours are complains of mice getting into their pantries and cupboards and sheds , we don't have mice in the house as they wont hang around if there are resident skinks and geckos in the house).
Here's the cheeky skink making itself at home yesterday , kept me company and entertained us for most the afternoon
Is not at all camera shy , the flash charging or firing doesn't scare it, a very photogenic skink , and obviously very well fed ( healthy looking ).
No I wont be trying to catch them , while I'm sure Fluffy would like a tankmate if I did , I'm happy enough to have these charming little skinks sharing our house with us of their own choice.
Meanwhile outside - we have
> delicate garden skinks ( hatchlings and juveniles and adults ) making good use of the sleepers used in our garden beds and retaining wall, and living under the house and amongst the nasturtium jungle in the top half of the big 6m x 3m bed
> maybe are dozen adult , juvenile and baby water skinks who like the retaining wall, driveway , shed, and also live under the house and visit the front patio
> we've seen the resident wild eastern bluetongue regularly nibbling on the nasturtium leaves and flowers ( seem to really them ) and making a meal of the snugs and snails who hide under the thick nasturtium bed (where it stays moist). Will likely be some frogs and geckos amongst the nasturtium jungle too.
Nasturtiums are great ground cover ( and entirely edible - flowers, leaves , stems and seeds , hence why I sowed them as seeds 12 months ago )
get load of the nasturtium jungle we now have
hard to believe this started as just 8 seeds in a 600ml plastic food tub 12 months ago. It has nearly covered a full 3m x 3m bed ….
Will be taking cuttings to propagate soon and plant along the top of my retaining wall to make that "pretty" for next summer.
, we've also seen a couple of juvenile marbled geckos on the tree trunk , and the frogs are back ( we've heard them croaking away somewhere in the backyard at night
.
I'm very pleased the frogs have returned ( think they are in the "weedy" area ( where the ground slopes quickly down by between 20cm and 50cm in an ribbon about 50cm wide between the fill level and the nth bdry fence = never dries out in the longish grass there as in shade from fence , and behind the garage (where it's been allowed to go wild ) and behind the 6m x 1.5m bed w/ privacy screen ) = another habitat area where it's never mowed or attacked with the whippersnapper machine and stays moist as only exposed to sun for a few hours around noon ==> perfect frog , skink and gecko habitat..
Didn't take the frogs long to move in once the monsoonal season arrived (Been a few years since we heard frogs croaking at night - been too dry for them to move away from the local creeks = Johnsons Creek (700m SE)
Scrubby Creek (800m SW)
and the Newcastle ByPass' stormwater empoundment (300m from the Sth end of my street).
…. these are well know eastern water dragon and eastern water skink and frog habitats and have thriving colonies of wet land birds, frogs , skinks, dragons and even see mullet and bream and perch.